I Don't Need Ears When My Eyes Work Just Fine
by District4-divergent-nephilim
Summary: Clint and Natasha decide that it's time to expand their family; things don't go exactly the way they planned.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel (obviously) or any of the characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.**

* * *

When Clint suggests they adopt children rather than try to have one of their own, Natasha feels like she loves him even more than she did before he said anything, which she didn't think was possible. She thought that on their wedding day three years ago too, and on every mission that Clint saves her on.

She's done a lot of bad things in her life. Hell, she's probably put a few children into orphanages herself by killing their parents, so maybe this is her way of atoning for it. Or maybe she just loves the idea of taking someone new into her little family, giving someone a home and people who love them. Just like S.H.I.E.L.D. did for her. They gave her Clint and Steve and Bruce and Thor and even Tony Stark. She'll never admit it, but she loves him, even if he is an insufferable, pretentious asshole sometimes.

Natasha knows she's always not the best at showing her love, so she smiles, agrees wholeheartedly, and starts talking about the advantages of adopting over actually having a baby of their own.

She doesn't even notice that she's rambling until Clint reaches out to stop her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah?" she asks.

"I was thinking that we should adopt them from Russia," he says quietly.

She stops talking then, and though she's been trained not to cry about anything, even immense physical pain, she can feel tears well up in her eyes.

"Woah, okay, no, you're crying!" Clint exclaims, panic in his voice. He's only seen Natasha cry once, back when she rescued Clint from Loki's brainwashing. And that was only relieved tears. "We could maybe not do that, if that makes you feel uncomfortable. We don't have to if you don't want to. That is totally fine with me. Just throwing the idea out there."

"I... I want to do that," she says, sniffling and wiping the tears away from her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's the perfect idea. We'll call the orphanage in the town I was born in, yeah?"

Clint smiles and kisses her forehead. "Yeah."

* * *

With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help in negotiating with the Russians, Natasha and Clint are ready to board a plane to Natasha hometown only five months later.

At first, they were reluctant to give one of their children to people who had killed so many important Russian figures, but S.H.I.E.L.D. reminded them that with a child, Hawkeye and Black Widow might put away their assassins' weapons for good. There was no need for the Russians to know that they had done that together on the night before their wedding, swearing to not assassinate anyone else unless the fate of the world depended on it.

The Russians agreed to let them adopt as many Russian children as they wanted, even though Clint and Natasha assured them that they only wanted one.

And so here they were boarding the plane.

Steve hugged Natasha tightly. "Stay safe, Spider." Natasha smiled and kissed his cheek. After their harrowing mission together while Clint was on leave, Steve had begun calling her by that nickname. It was the first time someone besides Clint referred to her as being the Black Widow without saying it with fear or disgust in their voice, and Natasha loved it.

"The child you bring home can be nothing less than perfect," Tony says, hugging Clint and Natasha both.

"And how will we be able to tell if they're perfect?" Clint asks.

"Ask them if they like Iron Man," Tony suggests innocently. "If they don't answer 'yes' immediately, then they're not perfect."

Clint groans and rolls his eyes.

"Tony is only kidding, of course," Bruce says, and Tony nods. "Any child you adopt will be perfect, and we will all love him or her no matter what."

The rest nod in agreement, and Natasha's heart soars.

* * *

By the time they land in Russia, the orphanage visiting hours are over, so Natasha takes the opportunity to show Clint all around her childhood town.

The next day, they show up at the orphanage five minutes after visiting hours start, determined to have enough time to make the hard decision of which child to adopt and take home with them.

They're taking into the dining room to meet most if the children, and then head of the orphanage suggests that they sit down at one of the tables and let the kids come to them.

Sure enough, a little girl comes skipping up to them a few moments after they sit down. "Hi, who are you?" she asks, her light brown braided pigtails bouncing.

Clint glances at Natasha, looking confused. "We're a couple that's come to adopt a child," she says in Russian.

"Oh." The little girl smiles, her brown eyes alight with excitement.

"Do you speak any English?" Natasha asks, still in Russian.

"I am not very good, but yes," the little girl says. "Why?"

"My husband here does not know Russian," Natasha says. "He cannot understand us."

"Oh." The little girl's eyes widen. "Sorry, Mister." This time, the girl speaks in English.

Clint smiles softly. "That's perfectly okay," he says, scooting over to make room for her on the bench. "What's your name?"

"Inessa Klementina," she says. "But everyone calls me Ness."

Natasha smiles "It's nice to meet you, Ness. My name is Natalia Alianovna Romanova, or Natasha Romanoff. But you can call me Tasha. How old are you?"

"Five," Ness says proudly, holding up five fingers.

"This is my husband, Clint," Natasha says, gesturing towards Clint. "He's not Russian, so he doesn't have a cool name like we do."

Ness giggles and says, "Tasha and Clintonia." Clint chuckles.

Natasha laughs, too. She decides that she would like Inessa to become part of her and Clint's family.

Suddenly, Ness straightens. "I have to go put up my dishes. Bye!"

"Before you go," Clint says quickly. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Mister Clint."

"Who's that boy over there?" He points to a boy sitting alone and playing with blocks in the room connected to the dining room, which looks like a children's playroom.

Ness stops smiling. "That's Dmitri. He's six. He's got hearing problems. The doctor said that if he got machines he could hear, but no one will buy them for him."

Natasha sees Clint tense, going incredibly still. His hand involuntarily reaches up and brushes his hair back behind his ear, revealing the plastic edge one of his hearing aids.

"I feel sad for him," Ness continues. "My parents died, but his left him here on the doorstep."

"His ears…" Clint falters.

"We'll see you later, I'm sure," Natasha says quietly, offering Ness a happy smile. The girl smiles back and then skips away, carrying her breakfast plate and fork with her.

* * *

"Approach slowly, so he can feel us coming through the vibrations we make on the carpet," Clint says, taking a cautious step towards Dmitri.

Sure enough, the boy looks up at them and frowns slightly. I've seen you two before on the TV. You're superheroes, he signs in ASL. Please, sit.

They both take a seat. Why are you here? Dmitri signs.

We want to adopt a child, Natasha signs.

Dmitri gives a little gasp. You know sign language?

Being able to talk to people is an important part of our job, Clint says. How do you know American Sign Language?

My parents were Americans, he signs. They taught it to me, before I got to be too much for them to handle and they left me here.

Clint frowns and sighs.

If you want to adopt a kid, why are you talking to me? Dmitri signs.

Because you're a kid, and you caught our attention, Natasha signs.

All the other kids are in the other room.

And why aren't you in there with them? Clint signs, looking confused.

I'm not like them. I'm broken.

No, you're not. Just because you can't hear doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, Natasha signs.

Neither of you would understand, Dmitri signs, looking down at the floor. You're both perfectly fine.

Clint taps the floor to get Dmitri's attention and, when the boy looks up, he points to his hearing aids. We all know our own weaknesses, Clint signs. We just have to know our strengths, too.

Dmitri's expression is one of awe. You're like me, he signs, his hands shaking slightly. You're a superhero and you're like me. You can hear but you have trouble doing it and you're like me.

Yes, I am. Clint smiles.

You should go meet the other children anyway, Dmitri signs. A lot of them are really nice.

Are you sure? Natasha signs, unable to keep the frown off her face.

Yes. Dmitri nods.

Okay, Clint signs. I'm sure we'll see you again around here today.

Goodbye, Dmitri signs back, with a hint of a smile.

* * *

At the end of the day, Clint and Natasha are extremely worn out from meeting all the children, and sad that they have to choose between them.

The head of the orphanage lets them into a private room where they can discuss the adoption.

"I can't decide," Natasha says frustratedly, walking the length of the room back and forth.

"Between who?" Clint asks calmly.

"Inessa and Dmitri!" Natasha sighs. "And all of them, really."

"Well…" Clint hesitates.

"Well, what?"

"We could adopt both."

Natasha stops pacing and smiles. "We could."

"Think about it," Clint says. "It would be hard for just one child to move to a different country so suddenly, and have to assimilate with so many people they don't know. They would have us, of course, but all of them just met us. It would make sense to adopt two."

"God, I love you." Natasha hugs Clint tightly.

"Plus, we have legal permission to adopt two right now," Clint adds. "So we won't have to go through all the legal stuff all over again. And I know we could pay for Dmitri to get those hearing aids, if he wants them."

She smiles. "Let's do it, then."

Clint gives her a grin in return. "Let's do it."

* * *

Four days later, they're almost to the Teterboro Airport in New York City, with two children on the plane with them.

When the private plane that S.H.I.E.L.D. loaned to them for the trip lands, Natasha looks out the window to see the team waiting on the side of the landing strip. Bruce, Tony, Pepper, Steve- almost all of them here.

We're in New York City now? Dmitri signs.

Yep, Clint signs.

Ness tugs on Natasha's sleeve. "What's he saying, Tasha?" she asks.

"He asked if we're in New York City now," she says, ruffling Ness's hair.

"I've got to learn those hand signs," she decides.

By the time the door opens, the team has assembled at the bottom of the stairs. Ness grabs for Natasha's hand nervously, and Natasha takes it and folds it into her own.

Dmitri is already moving towards the door, pulling Clint with him as he clings to Clint's sleeve, so Natasha lets them get off first.

Before they know it, they're both on the ground, and the children are clinging closer to them, nervous around these strangers.

Everyone is silent for a few moments until Bruce squats down in front of Dmitri. You look a little nervous, pal, he signs. What's up?

Dmitri looks surprised. You know sign language? he signs quickly.

I know a lot of languages, Bruce signs back.

Dmitri laughs and throws his arms around Bruce, who looks surprised, but smiles and hugs him back lightly.

After that, the ice seems to melt. They introduce the kids and greet their friends warmly.

Pepper leans down and compliments Ness's dress, asking her if she braided her own hair that way, because it looks very pretty.

"No," Ness says with a giggle. She squeezes Natasha's hand a little tighter. "My mommy Tasha did it."

Pepper smiles. "I think we'll have to convince your mommy to teach us both how to do it, then."

Steve smiles and hugs Natasha with one arm. "Honestly, I'm surprised you only brought home two," he says.

"How does that surprise you?" Natasha asks. "We were originally planning to adopt only one, but we loved these two so much that we couldn't choose between them, so we adopted both."

"I was almost positive you'd bring home the whole orphanage," he replies, smirking. "Seems like the kind of thing you'd do."

Natasha rolls her eyes, but grins anyway.

Ness reaches out and pokes Steve's arm. "You're Mister America," she says, looking up at him with wide brown eyes. "I saw it on TV."

He smiles and looks down at her. "Yeah, I'm Mister America," he says. "But you can call me Steve, if you want."

"Steve," she says, testing it out. "Okay, Steve. I like that name. Steve."

Steve smiles so warmly that Natasha wonders how he could ever get frozen in the first place.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dmitri and Bruce are signing back and forth to each, so Clint pulls Tony to the side.

"What's up?" Tony asks, crossing his arms lightly.

"Dmitri is like me," he says quietly. "He's not deaf, but he can't hear very well. They told us back in Russia that he could hear, but the orphanage couldn't afford to pay for the hearing aids."

"Okay," Tony says.

"We asked him on the plane if he would like to have any hearing aids at all," Clint continues. "We didn't know if he'd want them, since he's already so accustomed to just using ASL. He said that he would want them, but only so he could hear other people who don't know sign language talk."

"That's great," Tony says. "I don't know if you guys will still be living in the tower-"

"We will be," Clint says quickly. "If that's okay with you, I mean."

"Of course it is," Tony exclaims, his brow furrowing. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know," says Clint with a shrug. "You just don't seem like the kind of person who likes kids."

"Kids love Iron Man, and Iron Man loves kids. Tony Stark does, too. They're always welcome in the tower, whether it be their home or simply the home of their cool Uncle Tony."

"Good." Clint breathes a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, I know sign language, and Bruce does as well, as you can obviously see. Pepper knows the basics, but Steve doesn't. I'm not sure about Sam or Jane either, and I don't even want to think about Thor's place in this situation. But I know that we would all be willing to learn it so we can talk to him. And you, by extension."

"I know you all would," Clint says, with a slight smile. "But I was wondering if you knew how to make hearing aids."

"I've built more than twenty different versions of the Iron Man suit," Tony reminds him. "I'm not a professional make of hearing aids, but I know how to make them. And yes, I'll make them for Dmitri, since he wants them."

Clint smiles and glances at Natasha. When she gives him a look, he gives her a thumbs up. They planned to ask Tony on the flight here, and this was their signal that meant he had said yes. She smiles and flashes him a thumbs up back.

They're happy.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Please, review; constructive criticism is always welcome!**


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